‘Brilliant Minds’ and ‘English Teacher’ show burnout in the workplace as a constant

In NBC’s new medical drama “Brilliant Minds,” Zachary Quinto, right, stars as Dr. Oliver Wolf, a neurologist known for bursting into locker room speeches. He describes his show as a “very much a high-pressure workplace drama where our doctors are tirelessly and selflessly helping patients and their health and their mental health, while at the same time neglecting their own mental health in very real and relatable ways.” Actor Aury Krebs plays Dr. Dana Dang in “Brilliant Minds,” which creator Michael Grassi describes as a “high-pressure workplace drama.” Grassi’s staff includes Daniela Lamas, a pulmonary and critical care physician who is also a TV writer for medical dramas. Justin Halpern, who co-created “Abbott” with Patrick Schumacker and series star Quinta Brunson — the latter of whom was, appropriately enough, too busy filming the show to be interviewed for this piece — says that they haven’t done an episode specifically about burnout because “it’s generally not how teachers talk about it.” Being overworked and underpaid is part of the job for Gregory, left, Janine and Jacob in “Abbott Elementary.” He and Schumacker note that there have been storylines that hint at it, like a Season 2 episode that got into the generational divide over whether sick days must only be used for physical health. “And then, it just becomes about, well, if you affect one person or two people over the course of your career as a teacher or as an actor…” He adds that “people who go into any profession for the wrong reasons won’t last long enough to get burned out.” Bernice Pescosolido, a sociologist and the founding director of Indiana University’s Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research and Irsay Institute for Sociomedical Sciences, says burnout might be a buzzy term right now, but it’s not a new phenomenon.